Sleepy Whale Phoenix: Hazy IPAs, Smoked Wings & Craft Beer
Sleepy Whale’s Phoenix location gave us exactly what we wanted: a huge craft beer selection, a four-hazy flight, loaded can coolers, smoked wings that apparently came from chickens with gym memberships, and plenty of beers shared around the table. We also crack open a strawberry-rhubarb Berliner-style Weisse from Energy City Brewing that somehow evolves into what may be the world’s first 6.5% strawberry applesauce.
Adam & Dedra
9/11/20268 min read
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Sleepy Whale Phoenix: Hazy IPAs, Smoked Wings & a Dangerous Amount of Craft Beer
There are certain places where you walk in, look at the tap list, look at the beer coolers, and immediately realize your original plan for “a couple beers” is no longer relevant.
Sleepy Whale near Central and Camelback in Phoenix turned out to be one of those places.
We had already been fans of some of the other craft beer spots connected to the same group, including The Theodore and The Wandering Tortoise, so when Sleepy Whale opened a location much closer to our side of the Valley, we had to check it out.
And because apparently walking into a taproom with roughly two dozen beers on draft and refrigerators packed with cans requires absolutely no self-control, we started with four hazy IPAs.
Then we shared beers with friends.
Then came the can pours.
Then somebody opened a big bottle.
This was going exactly as expected.
But First, Strawberry Rhubarb… Applesauce?
Our featured beer for the episode came from Energy City Brewing in Illinois: a strawberry and rhubarb crumble Berliner-style Weisse.
This was not a thin little fruit beer.
The beer was so thick that after taking a drink, you could actually see it coating the inside of the glass. The can even recommended swirling and inverting it before pouring, which made a lot more sense once we saw what came out.
Our first reaction was rhubarb.
Which would have been a much more convincing tasting note if either of us actually knew what rhubarb tasted like.
The strawberry was mild, there was a little graham-cracker-like crumble flavor coming through, and the tartness was noticeable without turning every sip into a full facial workout.
Then, as the beer warmed up, Dedra suddenly announced that it tasted like strawberry applesauce.
Sleepy Whale Finally Came a Little Closer
We had known about Sleepy Whale's East Valley location for a while, but getting all the way over there wasn't exactly convenient for us.
The newer Phoenix location changed that.
Located near Central and Camelback, the space previously housed a Huss Brewing taproom. We enjoyed Huss, but Sleepy Whale feels like a natural fit for the location because the entire concept revolves around giving craft beer fans a ridiculous amount of choices.
Draft beer?
Plenty.
Cans to go?
Plenty.
Want them to crack one of those cans and pour it for you while you're there?
Yep.
We noticed shelves packed with North Park Beer Co., Drekker and plenty of other breweries we don't always find everywhere around town.
That alone can turn a quick stop into a problem.
A very delicious problem.
Naturally, We Started With Four Hazies
Our first move was basically Dedra's perfect beer flight: four hazy IPAs.
We started on the lighter end with Born Into Light from Everywhere. At around 6.9%, calling it “light” might be stretching the definition a little, but compared with what was coming later, it qualified.
It had a softer flavor profile and was extremely easy to drink. This was the type of hazy IPA where you could settle in with a few pours without getting exhausted by an overly thick or aggressive hop profile.
And somehow… she wasn't wrong.
Between the fruit, thickness and cinnamon flavor, the description started making more sense the longer we drank it.
So apparently we have reached the point in our craft beer journey where we're drinking 6.5% ABV applesauce.
We're comfortable with that.
Then came one of Dedra's favorites: Art Is Hard Silver from North Park Beer Co., a triple dry-hopped hazy IPA around 7%.
This one brought considerably more flavor.
Sleepy Whale also happened to have a large North Park selection in the coolers, which is dangerous information for anyone in Phoenix looking for a North Park fix without driving to San Diego.
Next up was Not From Concentrate from Hop Butcher, an Imperial hazy IPA that pushed the intensity another step higher.
This was where the hops really started hanging around after each sip. Bigger flavor, heavier body and more of that lingering hop character we enjoy in a strong hazy.
And then we reached the heavyweight.
The final beer in our original flight came from RAR Brewing, a double New England-style hazy IPA at around 9.1%.
It poured a noticeably deeper yellow than the others and immediately looked like the big beer in the lineup.
By this point, our original four-beer tasting had become less of a flight and more of a science experiment.
Sharing Beers Is Basically a Loophole
We were at Sleepy Whale with a pretty good-sized group, and everybody quickly started doing what beer people do.
“Have you tried this?”
“Try mine.”
“Did you taste that one yet?”
So while we technically ordered four tasters to start, we probably ended up sampling more than half of the beers on draft through everyone passing glasses around.
One surprise was a coffee blonde ale.
Your eyes tell you you're drinking something light.
Your mouth says, “Why am I drinking breakfast?”
There was also a coffee porter that Adam liked even more.
That is one of the best things about going somewhere with a large group of craft beer fans. Everybody orders something different, everybody shares, and suddenly your personal tasting flight has expanded well beyond anything you actually paid for.
We're pretty sure that's just efficient budgeting.
We Need to Talk About Those Wings
Sleepy Whale also serves food, with smoked meats playing a big role in the menu.
And the wings immediately got Dedra's attention.
These were not sad little wings where you start wondering if the chicken had even reached adulthood.
These things were thick.
Seriously thick.
At one point we compared them to small drumsticks. Adam thought the hickory-smoked flavor almost reminded him of biting into one of those giant turkey legs you get at a fair or Renaissance Festival.
We ordered them with a dry rub, which delivered a little spice without turning the entire thing into a salt bomb.
That matters.
Too many dry-rub wings arrive tasting like somebody dropped the salt shaker on them and decided to send them out anyway. These had plenty of seasoning while still letting the smoke and chicken come through.
Our final scientific conclusion?
Whatever chickens produced these wings clearly had a gym membership.
The Brisket Sandwich Was Good… But Needed a Little More Punch
We also ordered the brisket sandwich, served on a brioche-style bun with toppings including lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.
The sandwich itself was enjoyable, particularly alongside several rounds of beer, but Adam wanted more flavor from the brisket itself.
A stronger bark, more seasoning or a little more smoke would have pushed it further.
This led to the inevitable discussion about how brisket should be seasoned and how long a rub should sit before smoking it.
Adam is not claiming to be a professional pitmaster.
He is, however, perfectly comfortable explaining brisket technique while holding a beer.
The tomato actually helped lighten up what could otherwise have been a pretty heavy sandwich, especially with the brisket and mayo.
And we eventually came up with the obvious solution to the missing flavor:
Bacon.
Which brings us to another important observation about the menu.
Sleepy Whale appears to be very comfortable putting bacon on things.
We support this policy.
Then We Found the Can Coolers
After the flight and food, we moved into the can selection.
Adam grabbed Juice and Stampede, a hazy IPA with a label full of jungle animals.
Was the beer chosen partly because the can looked like something that could have appeared in Ace Ventura?
Possibly.
Was that a completely reasonable method for choosing a beer?
Also possibly.
Either way, it worked. The beer was flavorful, easy drinking and disappeared extremely quickly.
Dedra, meanwhile, spotted Drekker.
That decision was already made.
She grabbed Mango Orange Banana BRAAAAAAAINS, because if Drekker is sitting in the cooler, there's a pretty good chance Dedra is ordering it.
Adam claims he got approximately one sip before it vanished.
Dedra maintains that everyone was sharing it.
The investigation remains open.
The Campfire Beer That Nearly Stole the Show
One of the biggest surprises of the afternoon wasn't even a beer we ordered ourselves.
Someone in the group picked up a bottle of Campfire Classic from Pure Project and passed it around.
The beer was built around s'mores-inspired flavors including marshmallow, cocoa nibs and graham cracker.
After a day full of hazy IPAs, coffee beers, fruit beer and smoked food, this thing still managed to stand out.
Rich dessert-style beers can sometimes become overwhelming after a few sips, but this was one of Adam's favorite tastes of the entire visit.
And once again, going with a group paid off.
Order one beer.
Taste twelve.
It's basically beer math.
A Taproom Built for Hanging Out
Beyond the beer selection, the Phoenix Sleepy Whale has a really comfortable setup.
The location sits back in a corner between buildings with an outdoor courtyard area featuring tables, artificial grass and misters.
We visited while Arizona was still doing its annual impression of the surface of the sun, so sitting outside wasn't happening.
But once the weather cools down, that patio should be a great spot.
There is also a large roll-up door connecting the indoor space with the outside, plenty of seating, an L-shaped bar and TVs for anyone trying to catch a game.
We were there with a big enough group to take over several tables and spent a couple hours eating, drinking, sharing beers and hanging out.
That's really where Sleepy Whale worked best for us.
It wasn't just a place where we wanted to grab one beer and leave.
There was always another draft we wanted to taste, another can in the cooler we hadn't seen before or somebody at the table saying, “You need to try this.”
Final Pour
Sleepy Whale's Phoenix location gives craft beer fans exactly what we hoped it would: a huge selection without feeling overly serious about it.
You can build a flight from the draft list, grab a full pour, explore the coolers, crack open something harder to find, order smoked wings and brisket, and settle in with a group for a couple hours.
For hazy IPA fans, the selection alone gives you plenty to work through. Add breweries like North Park, Drekker, Hop Butcher, Everywhere, RAR and Pure Project into the mix, and it becomes very easy to abandon whatever responsible drinking plan you imagined before walking through the door.
We'd absolutely go back.
Dedra already said she would.
Adam just hopes he's invited.
Apparently she needs a driver.
Watch or listen to the full episode of The Adam & Dedra Show for the complete Sleepy Whale adventure, the beers we tried, our ongoing inability to remember which restaurant served which food, and the discovery that strawberry-rhubarb beer may actually just be alcoholic applesauce.
If we're going to eat applesauce, 6.5% ABV seems reasonable.
Cheers.
